The Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders offers a weekly Professional Development Seminar (Prosem) during the academic year. Prosem consists of presentations by invited speakers, covering a broad range of topics related to the field. Speakers include on-campus colleagues and collaborators, as well as off-campus visitors. Prosem occurs at noon on the 1st, 3rd, and 4th Monday of each month of fall and spring semesters.
For doctoral students in the Department of CSD, there is an accompanying discussion section led by a CSD faculty member. Discussion may focus on selected articles provided by the speaker each week, or may include professional development topics such as ethics, scientific integrity, mentoring, and other areas related to scholarly development.
All faculty, staff, and students are welcome. CSD faculty, staff, and students are strongly encouraged to attend.
Upcoming Prosem Events
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Oct26
Prosem Lecture: Validation of In-Person and Remote Semantic Fluency Assessment and Its Sensitivity to Subtle Cognitive Impairment and Plasma p-tau217 Positivity Deling He, Ph.D. @ 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm 62 Goodnight Hall Learn more about Prosem
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and related dementias (ADRD) are a growing global public health challenge. More than 55 million people worldwide currently live with ADRD, a number projected to nearly triple by 2050. There is a critical need for accessible, low-burden, and sensitive tools that can complement traditional clinical assessments and enable large-scale screening in community settings. Mobile and digital assessments, particularly remote and self-administered tools, are increasingly being explored to meet this need. To advance this effort, our lab developed TalkTracker, a tablet-based application designed to collect speech samples remotely and repeatedly in the home environment. The current study focused on an action semantic fluency task administered weekly over eight weeks. We examined whether language-derived measures from action fluency, including total correct responses, age of acquisition (AoA), and word frequency, were associated with cognitive status and plasma p-tau217 positivity, a hallmark biomarker of AD pathology. We examined these associations both cross-sectionally using linear regression models and longitudinally using linear mixed-effects models, adjusting for age, sex, and education. Additionally, we assessed the test-retest reliability of remotely collected action fluency measures using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) and evaluated convergent validity with in-person semantic fluency performance using available animal fluency collected closest in time to the mobile assessment. Pearson correlations, ICCs, and Bland-Altman analyses were conducted. Findings from this study will inform the utility of remotely administered action semantic fluency as a reliable and scalable digital biomarker for cognitive monitoring and the early detection of AD-related cognitive decline.
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Nov02
Prosem Lecture: Beyond Aspiration: Dysphagia Management, Pneumonia Risk, and Multisystemic Consequences in Acute Care in Acute Care Megan Crawford, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, BCS-S @ 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm 62 Goodnight Hall Learn more about Prosem
Dysphagia in acute and critical care is often simplified to a binary problem based on the presence or absence of aspiration. However, clinical outcomes emerge from complex interactions across multiple body systems. This seminar examines swallowing as a whole-body function shaped by neurologic status, cardiac and surgical factors, respiratory reserve, oral health, mobility, nutrition and other systemic influences. Using a case-based approach, the presentation will explore why similar swallowing findings may lead to different outcomes across patients. Current evidence and the presenter's research will be integrated to examine pneumonia risk, common dysphagia management practices and how dysphagia findings should be considered alongside the broader clinical picture. Attendees will leave with a practical framework for balancing swallowing safety and efficiency with pulmonary risk, nutrition and hydration, patient goals, and quality of life in acute care decision-making.
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Nov16
Prosem Lecture: Child-Friendly Visits with Incarcerated Parents in Jail Kaitlyn Pritzl, M.S. @ 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm 62 Goodnight Hall Learn more about Prosem
Child-Friendly Visits with Incarcerated Parents in Jail
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Nov23
Prosem Lecture: Quality of Life Technology Supports for Adults with Down Syndrome Hailey Johnson @ 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm 62 Goodnight Hall Learn more about Prosem
Quality of Life Technology Supports for Adults with Down Syndrome
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Nov30
Prosem Lecture: TBA Phoebe Crumpton, M.S., CCC-SLP @ 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm 62 Goodnight Hall Learn more about Prosem
Topic: TBA
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Dec07
Prosem Lecture: Clinical Implications of Speech Rate for Children with Language Disorders Liz Ancel, Ph.D., CCC-SLP @ 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm 62 Goodnight Hall Learn more about Prosem
Clinical Implications of Speech Rate for Children with Language Disorders